PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA — Pittsburgh police are looking for a semi driver who struck a utility pole and knocked down a World War I memorial in the Troy Hill neighborhood just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, November 8, and then drove away. The memorial listed Troy Hill residents who served in the war and was installed in 1920. It now lies on its side with traffic cones around it and police tape nearby, days before Veterans Day.
Security camera footage shows a tractor-trailer trying to navigate out of a parking lot on Lowrie Street. Police were dispatched to the intersection of Lowrie Street and Ley Street for a semi parked illegally or stuck in the roadway. While officers were on their way, a second report said the driver had hit a utility pole and the nearby memorial. The truck was gone when they arrived.
Neighbors woke to loud screeching. “It was bleeding into my dream,” said Josh Brower. “Sounded like somebody was stuck, and they were just revving their engine, trying to get unstuck.” He and Maura Bittle looked out their window and saw the driver spend at least five minutes trying to get onto one of Troy Hill’s narrow streets.
“They finally get unstuck, go through the grass over there, and hit the monument, and then fully topple it and just drive off down the street,” Brower said. The video shows the trailer knocking over the monument while turning onto the street. “We just thought it was completely insane, especially to just hit and run,” he said.
“I was pretty beside myself,” Bittle said. “I kind of was just like, ‘Is this actually happening right now?’ And like to watch him just rip through a stone monument like it was foam. It was just knowing that’s the sheer power of those things. It’s pretty wild.”
Possible Link to a Second Stuck Truck
Reserve Township police posted that a tractor-trailer got stuck a few minutes away on Sunday morning, leaving minor property damage. Their photo showed a semi with the same logo as the truck in the Troy Hill footage. Pittsburgh police are contacting Reserve Township police to confirm whether the two are connected. The company name on the side of the truck’s cab, according to a photo given to KDKA-TV, is Fastmovers Express Inc. KDKA-TV asked the company for comment and did not hear back.
Neighbors said drivers used to hit the memorial regularly, which led to the intersection being reconfigured to protect it. Several said the change seemed to work until this incident.
Police are reviewing security footage to identify the driver. Anyone with information is asked to call Pittsburgh Zone 1 police at 412-323-7201.
Note: Earlier reports gave the date as Saturday, November 7. The KDKA-TV report says Sunday morning, so I used November 8 here. Please confirm before publishing.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Interviews courtesy of KDKA-TV, WTAE, and CBS Pittsburgh.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
